A soldier remembered

Posted: Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The leaves at the top of the hardwoods fluttered in the breeze on a warm September afternoon as a group of people - some dressed in the colorful regalia of a bygone era - gathered in the opening of a forest in southern Oconee County. They stood quietly as a man with bagpipes played "Amazing Grace."

When the bagpipes ceased, the booming fire of muskets tore through the land. This was followed by yet another lonesome sound as Taps spilled from a bugle. These were unfamiliar sounds that carried through the forest surrounding the Fambrough family cemetery.

But they were all part of a ceremony hosted by the Athens Chapter of the Georgia Society Sons of the American Revolution. The members and their guests had gathered Sept. 23 to dedicate a grave marker for Anderson Fambrough, a soldier of the American Revolution who until this day lay in an unmarked grave in the cemetery off Fambrough Cemetery Road, a few miles from the Greene County line.

Robert Hale Sr., president of the Athens chapter of SAR, said the location of the grave was determined by Janette Fambrough Walker, 84, a lifelong resident of Oconee and Fambrough's descendant.

"Without her, we would not know where Anderson's grave is located," Hale said. "She, as a child, came here with her grandmother to clean the cemetery and her grandmother told Janette where Anderson and his wives were buried ... she always knew that is where he was buried."

As part of the ceremony, Emily West, also a descendant, unveiled the new grave marker.

Hale also thanked Dave Boatman, another descendant, who has researched the Fambrough family history back to it lineage in Europe. Boatman lives in Texas and was unable to attend the ceremony.

Fambrough, the son of Thomas and Mary Anderson Fambrough, was born in Albermarle County, Va. He moved to Georgia sometime after 1785 and owned more than 1,000 acres of land. His first wife, Agnes Mullins, died in 1810, and is buried beside Fambrough and his second wife, Elizabeth. Fambrough died Nov. 8, 1815. The final will was filed in Clarke County because Oconee County had yet to be formed.

At the ceremony, Hale praised the men and women of the Revolutionary War era.

"They prevailed through hardships worse than we can imagine so we can live in this great nation as free men and women. Hopefully the time we spend here today will help to remind us of the principles for which they fought and for which we must continue to fight if we are to preserve our freedom," he said.

Among those attending the ceremony were Nedra Johnson, representing the Elijah Clarke chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Dana Anderson of the John Andrew chapter of the DAR, who also laid wreaths at the grave along with several other groups including the Fambrough Family Society.

Melvin Davis, chairman of the Oconee Board of Commissioners, welcomed the group and thanked them for "the recognition of this particular individual and what they did for our country. Oconee County is pleased to be a part of this."